Neymar ‘Cried of Regret’ After Joining PSG From Barcelona

Former FC Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre gave a scathing interview to Mundo Deportivo in which he talked about the departure of Neymar Jr. in 2017.

First, Mestre tackled the topic of whether Neymar could ever return to his former club and team up with friend Lionel Messi.

“From the emotional point of view for how he left, I would not sign him. From a sporting point of view, I would sign him. In my opinion, he provides a skill-set that very few players have, it is the one-on-one talent and he scores lots of goals.”

While Mestre would consider bringing Neymar back to the Camp Nou, he did suggest a few stipulations that Barcelona should impose if Neymar were to return.

“Now, I also think that if Neymar had to return, he would have to do an act of contrition, withdraw the lawsuit against the club, reprimand himself, apologize, assume his mistake and, of course, lead an almost monastic life.”

None of that is going to happen. Anyone who is even slightly familiar with Neymar knows that he is not going to stop living the life of a very talented and wealthy footballer who is in the prime of their career.

Finally, Mestre revealed that Neymar kept the move to PSG quiet from everyone but soon regretted his decision.

“…at that time, no one knew he would leave because he didn’t tell anyone at the club. A very important former player of the club confessed to me that no one on the team knew it either…During the summer tour of [2017] in the United States, there were intense days on that subject [Neymar’s transfer]. Then, when he left, he soon cried of regret and sent us his desire to return.”

I’d be curious what Mestre considers “soon.” I can’t imagine Neymar landed in Paris and immediately got on his phone and cried about how he made the wrong decision.

We do know that Neymar tried to force a transfer back to Barcelona last summer after two injury-shorten seasons that left him unhappy in the French capital. At that point, it would be reasonable to expect Neymar to voice regret.

Things have changed since then for the 28-year-old. He has claimed to be happy in Paris for the first time and depending on how PSG performs in the UEFA Champions League, a contract extension isn’t out of the question.

Meanwhile, Barcelona is a club in crisis with Messi fighting with the club’s director of football and now Ousmane Dembélé is out for six months due to injury.

I think it’s fair to say that right now, Neymar isn’t crying about his decision to join PSG.

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